-
It's
Important to know that a childís brain grows and develops rapidly within the
first two years or his or hers life.

*
The brain grows faster than any other part of a babyís body. By the time a
child is 2 his or her brain is 3/4 of the way to being fully-grown.

*
A baby is born with an overabundance of neurons and needs to develop more
dendrites and synapses. In result there is an increase in the density of
dendrites within the cortex. This occurs from the time a child is born up till
he or she is two years of age. This explains why the brain triples in weight
within two years.

*
Brain development is rooted from different experiences.

-Experience-expectant:functions of the brain use basic experiences In order to develop.

-Experience-dependant:
functions of the brain that rely on specific and "variable events"
In order to develop.

*Average
Body weighs a little more than 7 pounds and measures to about 20 Inches.

*A
baby grows about an Inch a month for the first six months of his or her life and
then slows down by a small
amount.

*By
a childís second birthday they should weigh around 30 pounds.

*Proper
sleep is very Important, an Infant should sleep a total of 16 hours a

day
and a toddler should average around 13 hours, (And It is completely

normal
for babies to wake up a few times during the night)As well as sleep,

nutrition
is extremely important in maintaining a childís health and growth.

*It is very important to breast-feed an Infant if possible because breast
milk contains colostrum. Colostrum Is Important for a newborn because it is high
in calories, it protects against Illness, allergy, ache, and pain, and it
provides antibodies to protect the baby from diseases.

*In
order to prevent malnutrition a mother should watch their childís weight and
make sure itís within the normal because many babies suffer from
protein-calorie malnutrition, which can result in serious problems.

*Another
thing a mother should be careful of is under nutrition, which results in a child
being smaller than he, or she should be. This is often caused when a mother
switches from breast milk to formula to quickly. That is why it is important for
mothers to check with doctors before making the transition to different
formulas.

* Babies are sensitive to touch, taste, and smell.
A child learns the smell and touch of his or her parents at an early age.

* Ever wonder why babies put everything in their mouths? Well they like to
explore things within their grasp with their tongues, gums, and lips because
they are sensitive. Babies usually begin this process at one year of age.

*Often in order to comfort a baby we will rock or
carry that child this is because the baby is soothed through he familiar touch.
This also comes into play with Breast-feeding. A baby is at ease because he or
she connects the taste, smell, and touch together.

Motor Skills:

* The first to develop in an infant are reflexes. The first reflex to
occur is very important it is the breathing reflex. Other important reflexes
include crying and shivering which lets parents know when the child is cold,
hungry, dirty, etc. There is also the feeding reflex, which includes the sucking
action, which allows the intake of food for proper nutrition and growth.

* Gross
Motor Skills include large body movements. This is when babies start to gain
muscle strength and begin to move about. These are the average ages in which
babies should be completing these specific actions.

* Itís very important that a parent schedules and regularly takes their
child for check-ups with their doctor. It is important to make sure the baby is
receiving proper nutrition, developing properly, and getting the proper and
required vaccines to protect them against harmful diseases.

*These are all the important facts that a parent should know in order to
maintain an infant and toddlers health within their biosocial development.